Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Most people go natural because their hair is breaking or because they want to try something different. I am going natural, albeit again, because I want my daughters to know they are beautiful without having to have a relaxer. I want my daughters to look in the mirror and see the natural beauty they possess.

I decided to go natural in March of 2007 with a made-up mind and nothing else. I immediately began to transition by wearing braids that I would get redone every month. I did not trim off the relaxer ends because I was not really sure if natural was truly what I wanted to do. Being from Miami, the weave capital of the South, I was sure I would be met with resistance by friends and family. Since I have always been one to not really listen to what other thought about me, I wasn't really afraid but I did have my own second thoughts. In March of 2008 I started to wear my hair out but for graduation, and my birthday for that matter, I got a sew-in because I still trusted straight hair more than I did my natural hair. Over the summer of 2008 I wore my hair out and began to get used to my natural hair. One of the best parts about being natural was being able to play with my hair all day. With a relaxer, the hair always has to look "just right" so there is no opportunity to tease the hair throughout the day. I relished the opportunity to twist and twirl my hair. Having had relaxed hair for the majority of my life, I had no idea what to do with natural hair so I wore a puff everyday... Every single day. The most styling I would ever do was attempt to part my hair, which never really worked, but I would try. In the spring of 2009, I pressed my hair to see how it looked. It was really frizzy and fuzzy-looking so I washed my hair. Lo and behold, the back left side of my hair would not curl up. I did not think my hair was long enough to cover up the straight part of my hair so I made the decision to relax my hair. In the March of 2009, I relaxed my hair.

So here we are now. It is now March of 2010 and I have made the decision to go natural again. This time, I will not press my hair until at least my second year of being natural. I don't think my hair was ready for me to press it the last time and this time it might also be better if I went to a professional instead of standing in the mirror with a cheap flat iron.

There are also a few other things I will be doing differently this time. I will not comb my hair as much so I can give my curl time to develop. I will not blow dry my hair after I get out the shower but rather let my hair air dry, again for curl development purposes. Since I already use really good hair care products, Keracare, I will continue to use the same products on my natural hair as I do on my relaxed hair. I am doing my BC, big chop, after two months instead of after a year as I did the first time. This time I will have less hair to work with but then that will give me the freedom I am looking for.

So now I am transitioning to natural and excited. I am constantly looking up videos on YouTube for tips on how to transition and also instructional videos for hairstyles I might want to try. I'll continue to update as I progress...